Have Fun: You’re going to die soon*. Find people to love and have fun with them. Learn Something: We’re an inquisitive species. Do right by your species and figure things out, then share your findings. Do Your Best: Everything you do has your signature on it. *within 100 years, which is soon.

We’ve been building Cardinal Spirits for about three full years now. What have I learned so far? Quite a bit about starting and running a distillery. A lot about running a business. A lot about what I’m actually good at and what I enjoy doing. A lot about my strengths…

A recipe for life. — The act of creation must be one of the big things we are here to accomplish. If we are the universe observing itself, it makes sense. The universe is constantly changing, growing, adapting, creating. Right as you read this, billions of stars are being created by fusing available materials into…

Put a gun on the table in the first act, someone has to get shot in the second. — That’s a dramatic principle called Chekhov’s Gun. In its simplest form, it means that anything written into a story must be there for a reason. I’ve come to see it as a basic rule of humanity as well: Available tools will always be used. As inherently curious creatures, we will…

A Clear-Cut Definition of Craft The cat is out of the bag. What once was a secret is now common knowledge, even outside of the circle of distillers, bartenders, and spirit geeks… The shelves at any given liquor store are full of bottles that appear to be very different products, made in different places by…

Indiana is a fine state. You know that, because you live here. There’s a good chance you live in a town or city that offers electricity and running water. …

“Here’s to alcohol, the rose-colored glasses of life.” - F. Scott Fitzgerald — Ethanol is a clear liquid psychoactive drug that produces in animals a state of euphoria and decreased inhibitions (or increased liberations). It makes dull people slightly more interesting, and makes interesting people slightly less intimidating. It is dangerous when overused, but so is everything else. Alcohol has been consumed by…